Related papers: The 3BF theory as a TQFT
We introduce the notion of $n$-dimensional topological quantum field theory (TQFT) with defects as a symmetric monoidal functor on decorated stratified bordisms of dimension $n$. The familiar closed or open-closed TQFTs are special cases of…
This paper gives a definition of an extended topological quantum field theory (TQFT) as a weak 2-functor Z: nCob_2 -> 2Vect, by analogy with the description of a TQFT as a functor Z: nCob -> Vect. We also show how to obtain such a theory…
We outline a general derivation of holographic duality between "TQFT gravity" - the path integral of a 3d TQFT summed over different topologies - and an ensemble of boundary 2d CFTs. The key idea is to place the boundary ensemble on a…
We investigate the Chung-Fukuma-Shapere theory, or Kuperberg theory, of three-dimensional lattice topological field theory. We construct a functor which satisfies the Atiyah's axioms of topological quantum field theory by reformulating the…
We derive the general state sum construction for 2D topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) with source defects on oriented curves, extending the state-sum construction from special symmetric Frobenius algebra for 2-D TQFTs without…
We present a rigorous quantization scheme that yields a quantum field theory in general boundary form starting from a linear field theory. Following a geometric quantization approach in the K\"ahler case, state spaces arise as spaces of…
The orbifold construction via topological defects in quantum field theory can either be understood as a state sum construction internal to a given ambient theory, or as the procedure of (identifying and) gauging ordinary and…
In the present paper we propose a new approach to quantum fields in terms of category algebras and states on categories. We define quantum fields and their states as category algebras and states on causal categories with partial involution…
The higher category theory can be employed to generalize the BF action to the so-called 3BF action, by passing from the notion of a gauge group to the notion of a gauge 3-group. The theory of scalar electrodynamics coupled to…
We present commuting projector Hamiltonian realizations of a large class of (3+1)D topological models based on mathematical objects called unitary G-crossed braided fusion categories. This construction comes with a wealth of examples from…
We generalize the notion of parallel transport along paths for abelian bundles to parallel transport along surfaces for abelian gerbes using an embedded Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT) approach. We show both for bundles and gerbes…
I propose to formalize quantum theories as topological quantum field theories in a generalized sense, associating state spaces with boundaries of arbitrary (and possibly finite) regions of space-time. I further propose to obtain such…
In this paper, we present a construction toward a new type of TQFTs at the crossroads of low-dimensional topology, algebraic geometry, physics, and homotopy theory. It assigns TMF-modules to closed 3-manifolds and maps of TMF-modules to…
If $C$ is a spherical fusion category, the string-net construction associates to each closed oriented surface $\Sigma$ the vector space $Z_\text{SN}(\Sigma)$ of linear combinations of $C$-labelled graphs on $\Sigma$ modulo local relations,…
We provide a rather extended introduction to the group field theory approach to quantum gravity, and the main ideas behind it. We present in some detail the GFT quantization of 3d Riemannian gravity, and discuss briefly the current status…
We give a brief introduction to matrix models and the group field theory (GFT) formalism as realizations of the idea of a third quantization of gravity, and present in some more detail the idea and basic features of a continuum third…
We study the recent proposal of arXiv:2405.20366 which poses a precise holographic duality between a 3d TQFT summed over all topologies and a unitary ensemble of boundary 2d CFTs. In that proposal, the sum over topologies is obtained via…
In this paper, we describe a relation between a categorical quantization construction, called "2-linearization", and extended topological quantum field theory (ETQFT). We then describe an extension of the 2-linearization process which…
Mostly self-contained script on functorial topological quantum field theories. These notes give a slow introduction to the basic notions of category theory which serve a closer investigation of cobordisms and (commutative) Frobenius…
We lay down a general framework for how to construct a Topological Quantum Field Theory $Z_A$ defined on shaped triangulations of orientable 3-manifolds from any Pontryagin self-dual locally compact abelian group $A$. The partition function…